Those looking to the future of transportation say it’s going to take more than just ridesharing to keep B.C.’s growing cities moving. TransLink is telling Global News they’re already exploring one possible solution: Transit On Demand.
It’s something the University of Michigan is testing out: smaller vehicles dispatched to riders by way of an app, then connecting them to the main transit system.
Andrew McCurran, Translink’s director of strategic planning and policy says they’re also exploring the idea.
“Maybe have smaller vehicles that are routed more dynamically that could provide better service for customers especially in those periods and times of day and parts of the region where they’re not getting great service today,” McCurran says.
The transit authority is also looking into a carpool service in under-served, industrial zones.
“A lot of people are coming from all parts of the region to the same job sites,” McCurran says. “We’re hoping to find some business partners to test out whether it makes sense to try a van pool service that’s more integrated with our traditional transit system.”
Josh Andrews, COO of Spare Labs in Vancouver, says the metro area’s current gridlock presents an opportunity to find diverse solutions for an ever expanding region.
“We have really good public transit here, but we don’t have an option to book a ride from your phone in an instant,” he says. “We’re going to see it coming in with new legislation in the private sector, but I think the bigger opportunity is in the public sector to introduce this new technology.”
McCurran says the next step is to turn these ideas into pilot projects. The hope is they’ll be ready for testing in the months to come.
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